Amusement apparatus.



No. 879,872, PATENT'ED PEB. 25, 1908. H. HILL.

AMUSEMBNT APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9, 1907.

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Hermann HL'ZZ 3,5% 1 (f www rw: mur; m. rens co., WASHINGTON. n. c.

PATENTBD PEB. 25, 190e.

H. HILL. AMUSEMENT APPARATUS.

PPLIGATION HL 19o A ED MAR 9' 7 a sxEETs-sHEE'r/z.

Hermann L'ZZ, SMOM/tof@ o Wwf THE NoRRls PETERS ca., wAsmNcraN, n: c

No. 879,872 PATENT-BD PEB. 25, 1908.

H. HILL. AMUSBMENT APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9,-1907.

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Hermann Hill, 5mm/vbo@ M Wwdm m.

THE NoRRls PETERS co4. WASHINGTON, n. c,

'UNTTEE sTATEs PATENT onn'rcE.

HERMANN HILL, OE GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT, ASSGNOR TO DARCY & SPECK, OFPHILADELPHL'A, PENNSYLVANIA, A COPARTNERSHIP.-

AMUSEMENT A'lul-LR.ATUS.

Patented Feb. 25, 190s'.

Application filed March 9| 1907. Serial No. 361,619.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, HERMANN HILL, a subject of the Emperor ofAustria-Hungary, residing at Greenwich,in the State of Connecticut, haveinvented a new and useful Amusement Apparatus, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to that class of amusement apparatus known asmerry-go-rounds, and more particularly to thatclass which has aplurality of rings and in which the vehicles or mechanical horses followa path of travel which crosses itself at intervals.-

One object of my invention is to provide a direct means of propellingthe vehicles and vehicle carriers by means of toothed wheels without theuse of sectional chains, ngers, rotating radial shafts, or otherintervening mechanism between the toothed wheels and the vehiclecarriers g another obj ect is to provide means by which the vehiclecarriers or supports may pass between toothed wheels while the wheelsare engaged; another object is to provide direct means by which, in amerry-go-round having a plurality of rings and vehicles passing from onering to another, vehicles may be propelled in all of said rings frompower applied to one ring without the use of a belt or chain anotherobject is to provide a merry-go-round of the class described which maybe driven at a high rate of speed with safety and small expenditure ofpower, and which is of simple and non-expensive construction. l attainthese objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawingsin which:-

Figure l is a top view of my apparatus with vehicles and platformsupports removed, and parts of the platform and part of one wheel cutaway. Fig. 2 is a side view of one ring and a vertical section of theother. Fig'. 3 is a planview of the track and crossing. Fig. 4 is anenlarged detail view of gear wheels at and near point of engagement.Fig. 5 is a top view of guide ways, guide bars, and track at line 1-1 ofFig. 6. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of Fig. 5, 'at line 2 2. Fig. 7 isa modification of Eig. 4, showing two toothed wheels in lieu of-atoothed and pin wheel. Fig. 8 is an outline view of tracks where fourrings are used. l

Referring to the drawings in which the same reference characters relateto the same or corresponding parts in all the views, a is a toothed gearwheel which engages/and drives .each other as to form crossing the pintoothed wheel l). These gear wheels have spokes, a and b', which aredished to give greater rigidity, and hubs, (the hub of a, a2, beingshown on drawing) and are revolubly mounted on upright shafts, c and d.The shaft ol is fixedly mounted in a socket casting d, bolted to thesolid foundation e. rlhe shaft c is mounted in the same way, but notshown on drawing.

Directly beneath the pitch lines of a and b is a track, f mounted onties, f 2, resting on the solid foundation e. rI his track, f, isdirectly beneath and follows the contour of the pitch lines of a and bexcept near its crossing point,

as will be hereafter more fully explained. At f is a frog. Mounted onthe track, f, are two wheeled trucks, g, -which support and carryvehicles, g', upon upright rods or supports, g2. The rods, g2, are roundand of the same diameter as the pins b4. Fixedly mounted by means of setscrews on the rods, g2, at the level of the crossing guide way, h4, areguide bars, g3. These guide bars are slightly narrower in width than thecrossing guide way, h4, and their purpose is to support and guide thevehicle rods and carriers,

g3, above and near the crossing, f g3 runs beneath the wheels, a and l).

On two sides of the crossing, f', inside of the track and beneath thewheels a and l) are two castings, 71 and h which are bolted to thefoundation e, and on the other two sides of the crossing, f', andoutside of the rings are two castings, h2 and h3, also bolted to thefoundation e. These castings, h, h', h2, ha, are so positioned inrelation to the track and guide ways, h4, through which pass the guidebars, g3, and the upright rods, g2. Full details of their constructionare shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Covering the entire apparatus are an outer platform fi, and innerplatforms y' and 7c. The platform 7c is centrally supported upon theshaft or post, d, which is prolonged above the hub, a2, and is ixedthereto by set screws or bolts, c or other means, and is strengthened bytruss rods, k2, aflixed to the top of the shaft at 7a4, and to theplatform at ks.' These truss rods may be three or more in number, andare provided with turn buckles, k3, for the purpose of correcting anycontraction or expansion of the platform. Platform j is supported by c,and is similar in construction to 7c. Platform 'i is supported by posts,i3, resting on the foundation e.

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Between the outer latform, fZ, and the inner platforms, y' and fc), is aspace, t2, which forms a guide way for the upright rods, g2. There isalsoV a space between the platforms, y' and 7c, through which the rods,g2, pass.

Power may be applied to my machine from any source through gears, orbelts and pulleys. In my drawing I show the power applied through theshaft, Z, and beveled gear wheels, Z and Z2, shaft, Z3, pinion wheel7Z4, and gear wheel, Z5, Z5 on the drawing being part of the same castingas the hub, a2. The gear wheels a and b may be run in either direction.

It will be observed that between the teeth, a4, of the toothed wheel a,at intervals are cut slots or recesses, a3. These recesses, a3, at thepitch line of the teeth, a4, are the same width and occupy relativelythe same position as the space between the teeth a4. Inside of the pitchline of a, the recesses, a3, are of the same width as at the pitch line,and they arel cut inside of the base of the teeth, a4, to permit therods, g2, to move inside the pitch line when the trucks, g, are on thestraight portion of the track, f, as hereinafter explained.

At intervals slots or recesses, b3, are cut from the periphery of thewheel Z). On the wheel Z), where the recesses, 3, appear, b3 occupiesthe space that would be otherwise taken by a pin b4. The recesses, a3and b3, are not cut radial to the wheels, a and b, but are preferablycut at right angles to a straight line drawn from the center of the tworods, g2, of any truck with the truck mounted upon the track. Thetrucks, g, being mounted upon the track, f, the upright rods, g2, inposition in the recesses, a3 and b3,- upon the gear wheels a and b beingput in motion, the trucks, g, the rods, g3, and the vehicles, g, arepropelled along the track, f. While the trucks, g, are on the curvedportion of the track, f, the rods, g2, in the recesses, a3, and b3, areon the pitch lines of the wheels, a and b. The rods, g2, are also on thepitch lines of the wheels, 0. and Z), at a point directly above thecrossing point, f, of the track, f. It will be observed that for a shortdistance before and after it reaches the crossing point, f', the track,f, is straight. This straightening of the track f, is shown clearly onFigs. 5 and 6. When the truck, g, enters upon the straight portion ofthe track, f, the rods, g2, on the wheel a, move into a3, and on thewheel, b, into b3, but when the rod, g2, reaches a point directly abovethe crossing point, f, it is upon the pitch line of both wheels, a andb, and is engaged in a recess (b3) of wheel, b, and between teeth (a3)of wheel a, and it also at this crossing point takes the place of andperforms the functions of a pin, b4, on the wheel b, is directlypropelled by a tooth of wheel a, and itself aids in driving the wheelvantages thereof, and I reserve the right to b.. Suppose a' rod,- gg, tobe engaged in a red cess of wheel a the wheel being in motion, after arod, g2, passes above the crossing point, j', of the track, f, it, g2,will leave the recess 0,3, and remain in recess b3, and be carriedforward by wheel l), or vice-versa. From the time the truck enters uponthe straight portion of the track f, under either wheel, a or b, untilit reaches the curved portion of the track, f, under the other wheel, aor b, the rod, g2, is within the pitch line of the wheels a and Z),except directly above the crossing point, f. It will be observed thatwhere the track, f, becomes straight near the crossing point, f, itfollows a line which if it were prolonged in either direction on thesame horizontal plane as the wheels a and b, would intersect theperiphery of both wheels, and not be tangential, to either.

The recesses a3 and b3 are distributed in pairs around the peripheriesof the wheels a and Z. The distance between each of any pair ofrecesses, a3 or b3, is determined by the distance between the uprightrods, g2, of the truck, g. The distance between the pairs of recesses a3and b3, is determined by the circumference of the wheels, a and b and bythe number of trucks used. The recesses a3 and b3, are so positioned inthe wheels a and b that with wheels mounted in position with a f recessa3 and a recess b3 coinciding at a point immediately above crossing, andthe wheels a and Z) being made to revolve, a recess a3 will reach apoint directly above the crossing, f', synchronously with a recess b3,i. e. recesses as and b3 must coincide at a point directly above, f Iprefer to use two vehicle carrying rods, g2, upon the trucks, g. It isobvious that one may be used.

In my drawing I show the details of the construction of a two ringmerry-goround- It is obvio-us that as many rings as desired may be used.Additional rings may be arranged as shown in Fig. 8, in a straight lineor other formation.

By the word recess or slot as used in describing a3 of my drawings Imean the space between the teeth of the wheel a, inclusive or exclusiveof that portion which is cut below the normal base of the teeth, a4.

Although I have shown and described, and prefer to use a toothed gearwheel, a, and a pin wheel, Z), it will be apparent that vtwo toothedwheels with teeth removed at intervals from one wheel, and forks mountedon the rim of the wheel from which teeth are removed, which engage withthe vehicle carrying rods, as shown in Fig. 7, may be used.

My invention is not limited to the exac't details of construction hereinshown and described, as it will be apparent that various changes thereinand modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spiritof my invention or sacrificing the admake all such alterations in theconstruction herein shown and describedas iairly come Within the scopeof the invention.

By propelling WheelsH as used in my claims, I mean Wheels that have,when in motion, either a constant or an intermittent propulsive effectupon one or more oli'4 the vehicle carrying rods, or that propel orassist in propelling one or more of the vehicle carrying rods.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

l. In an apparatus of the class described, vehicle carrying rods, andtoothed propelling wheels constantly engaged and having peripheralrecesses receiving the rods.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, vehicle carrying rods,toothed propelling Wheels constantly engaged and having peripheralrecesses receiving the rods and means for driving one of said Wheels.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a toothed Wheel havingrecesses at intervals between the teeth thereof, a toothed Wheel withteeth removed at intervals having recesses in place of removed teeth andvehicle carrying rods engaging in said recesses, said toothed Wheelsbeing constantly engaged with each other.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, vehicle carrying rods,toothed Wheels constantly engaged and having peripheral recessesreceiving the rods and trucks upon which said vehicle carrying rods aremounted.

5. In an apparatus of the class described,

the combination of an endless track, Wheeled trucks mounted on saidtrack, vehicle carrying rods mounted on said trucks, and toothed Wheelsconstantly engaged and having peripheral recesses receiving the rods.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, toothed Wheels constantlyengaged having peripheral recesses, vehicle carrying rods Which engagein said recesses, and means for transferring said vehicle carrying rodsfrom one toothed Wheel to another at or near the point of engagement ofsaid toothed Wheels.

7. In an apparatus of the class described, toothed Wheels constantlyengaged having peripheral recesses, said recesses coinciding when at thepoint of engagement of said Wheels, vehicle carrying rods mounted ontrucks and engaging in said recesses and means for transferring saidvehicle carrying rods from one Wheel to another, such means consistingof a track beneath said Wheels upon which said trucks run, and membersso lpositioned as to form guide Ways at and near the point of transfer,the vehicle carrying rods passing between said guide Ways.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a truck, avehicle carrying rod mounted on said truck, a vehicle mounted on saidcarrying rod, and engaged toothed Wheels for propelling said truck andvehicle carrying rod, said toothed Wheels being between said truck andsaid vehicle.

HERMANN HILL.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK STEINMETZ, WM. J. S. SMITH.

